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Since the battlefield burned with Hiruzen Sarutobi's last stand. One year since the Yellow Flash had returned, not triumphant, but scarred and one-armed.
Konoha had not healed.
The war pressed on all fronts. Iwa's forces moved like an endless tide, pushing against Fire Country's western lines. Kumo dug its claws into the north, pillaging mines and seizing land rich in chakra ore. Suna, ever opportunistic, struck from the south with puppets and poisons, their warbands seeking to bleed Konoha dry.
And yet, within the heart of the village, a different war brewed. Not one of kunai and chakra, but whispers and shadows.
The Council had moved quickly to suppress the truth of Kushina's capture, luckily kumo did not blatantly boast capturing konoha's jinchuriki. The knowledge that Konoha's Jinchūriki had been taken by Kumo would have been catastrophic. Other villages would have rushed to exploit the weakness, each eager to rip apart the Fire Country.
But rumors had a way. A narrative spread among the rank-and-file shinobi: Minato Namikaze had abandoned the Third Hokage. He had lived up to his name...Yellow Flash, yes, but not for striking down enemies. For running away.
"Just think," some would whisper at campfires. "Your Captain{Minato} could leave you at any time. Just imagining that he can teleport away in the face of enemies."
It wasn't entirely believed. Many remembered Minato's courage, his speed, his brilliance. But in war, doubt was poison. And doubt, once planted, spread fast.
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Into that void left by hiruzen, stepped Danzo Shimura. The Council had named him temporary Hokage... some said, "until the war is done." But Danzo was no fool. He was a man who had spent his life waiting for moments like this. He cloaked himself in the language of necessity. Konoha could not afford sentiment. Konoha could not afford hesitation. Konoha could not afford weakness.
And so, Danzo moved his pieces.
He recalled Minato from the hot water against kumo, stationing him against Suna alongside the Hyūga clan. A subtle insult... pairing the Yellow Flash, hero of countless skirmishes, with a clan prized more for defense than glory. Against Suna's puppets, the Hyūga shone, demolishing delicate chakra threads with precision strikes. Minato was useful, yes, but Danzo ensured he was not in a position to reclaim honor or influence, which is very much possible if he was left at Kumo.
At the same time, he shifted the Uchiha. Fugaku and his clansmen were pulled into kumo's grinding front lines, in positions of command. The message was clear: the Uchiha would bleed for Konoha, but they would not rise. At the same time, holding lines for konoha. By the end of the war, he didn't want any clan to have significant power to challenge his authority.
The Ino-Shika-Chō clans, too, were carefully managed. Their teamwork was invaluable, Danzo split their formations, pairing them with Uchiha units. On paper, it was strategy...mind, shadow, and transformation supporting genjutsu. In truth, it was a leash. He could claim their victories as combined effort, preventing any one clan from earning too much honor. and he could always collect the sharingan from the dead.
And Root?
Root never left the shadows. Danzo hoarded his personal forces, keeping them from the battlefield under the excuse that they were "vital for homeland security." In reality, they were his ace, his unseen dagger, his proof that he... unlike the others... always thought beyond the war at hand. He needed force to enforce after the war ended.
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Meanwhile, the Sannin themselves were scattered.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru waged war in the west, locking horns with Iwa's armies. Their strategies could not have been more different. Jiraiya inspired, rallying soldiers with charisma and the promise of survival. Orochimaru dissected, probing Iwa's weaknesses with clinical cruelty. Together, they held the line, though the ground was paid for in blood.
Tsunade, however, stayed behind. Her fear of blood after her brother's death, long mocked in whispers, became open truth. She was not at the front, but in the hospitals, transforming Konoha's medical corps into something no other village could rival. In her hands, the wounded lived. Soldiers who should have died returned to the field. Yet in the darker corners of the barracks, some still sneered: "The Slug Princess hides behind medics."
--
Danzo, ever pragmatic, made another ruthless choice.
The Academy years were cut. Where once shinobi trained 6 years before earning their forehead protectors, now it was 4. Children barely past childhood were marched to the front, their fear masked by forced pride. They died young, but they died serving the village..and in Danzo's eyes, that was honoring them.
Every funeral fed his rhetoric: Konoha endured because of sacrifice. And who embodied sacrifice better than Danzo Shimura, the man shouldering the burden of Hokage in wartime?
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Far away, in the mountain fortress of Kumogakure, the Third Raikage held council.
The great man sat cross-legged, cloak discarded, lightning no longer dancing across his frame. His voice was gravel, steady as stone.
"Should we press into Fire Country?" he asked, eyes narrowing. "Seize their lands, now that we have stabilized our position at hot water?"
Kaien, seated nearby, sucked thoughtfully on the pacifier that had become his force of habit, which allowed him to think effectively when munching on it. He removed it with a faint pop.
"It isn't economical, Grandfather. Land is nothing but weight during wartime. Let the Fire Daimyo bleed coin to feed this endless conflict. We capture what matters. Resources. Mines. The chakra ore veins we've already secured will fuel us for years. Expansion only spreads us thin."
The Raikage grunted, considering. Kaien's logic was irritatingly sound.
Renga spoke next, his tone sharper, more urgent. "Raikage-sama, we've received word from Ay from the frontline. Konoha has begun deploying Uchiha against our northern fronts. Our shinobi are falling to their genjutsu. Losses are increasing."
The Raikage's eyes narrowed. "The Uchiha, eh… They sure are strong." He paused, then rumbled, "Send more reinforcements from 2nd base. Operate in two-man cells. If one is caught, the other disrupts the chakra. We'll cut through their illusions with discipline."
Kaien leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "Not enough. The Uchiha feed on emotions. Their eyes grow sharper the deeper they drown in them. We strike at the source. Deploy calming bombs. They dull the nervous system, dampen emotion. Pair them with sedatives. We capture, but we do not kill. "
The Raikage frowned. "Mercy for the Uchiha?"
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A/N: I apologize for the delay. I have been piling up chapters for patreon to make sure there are 20 advanced chapters. Now, I am done. So, if interested... now is the time.
So... the much needed time skip after hiruzen's death. Everything from Hiruzen's death to kushina's capture was hidden.
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